Viqor played Max Payne

Between painful attempts to log in Diablo III, I started up a new playthrough of Max Payne: Remedy Entertainment's overwrought noir shooter. Despite being a little self-aware (although not nearly as much as its sequel), the plot tends takes itself seriously even though it is more than slightly ridiculous. Max gets involved with stereotypical mobsters, secret government projects, Illuminati, and enough metaphors to sink a large fishing boat. That said, there are some parts that really work in the game: Max facing the pain of losing his family, as cheesy as it is, is actually pretty effective. And some of those metaphors are really good, eliciting a sardonic snicker at the right time or aptly describing a ridiculous situation. To top it off, the game itself is still fun to play: the bullet-time works well as a mechanic and the shoot-dodge can actually be used to effectively dodge bullets. When it all goes together, the combat feels awesome. On the other hand, Max Payne relies a little too much on repetition and memorization for its own good and the gameplay improvements brought about by Max Payne 2 make this game feel a bit antiquated by comparison.